DOCTORS have "never been more concerned" about the standards of care being provided by the NHS, two leading medical bodies have warned. 

In a joint statement, the leaders of the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh (RCPE) and the Society of Acute Medicine in Scotland, said conditions now are worse than at any point during the pandemic. 

It comes days after NHS Grampian and NHS Borders appealed to staff on annual leave to return to work amid an "extreme level of pressure" and a high number of acutely ill people arriving at the regions' hospitals. 

There were also reports that doctors working for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde had urged health board bosses to declare a major incident at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital so that all available resources can be diverted to the frontline. 

Similar measures were adopted early in the Covid pandemic.

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Text messages obtained by the BBC showed consultants warning that they were "unable to provide safe critical care" with no resuscitation beds and an eight-hour delay for ambulances offloading patients.

NHS GGC reportedly declined the request on Thursday. 

A major incident is implemented where the health of the community is under serious threat.

The alarm is echoed by Professor Andrew Elder, president of the RCPE; Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society of Acute Medicien (SAM); and SAM Scotland representative, Dr Dan Beckett. 

In a statement today, they said their organisations have "never been more concerned about standards of acute medical care across hospitals in the UK than we are now".

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They added: "At no point in the pandemic has the situation been as difficult. Whilst Covid 19 has not left us, and influenza is now contributing, these infections are not the primary cause of the problems.

"With patients waiting many, many hours to be assessed and treated, sometimes in ambulances queueing outside our hospitals, the maxim that our patients should receive 'the right care, in the right place, at the right time' has never been further away from the reality of what is actually being provided.

"This is an issue central to patient safety and quality of care – the core values the RCPE and SAM represent and that all in the NHS seek to safeguard.

"If the current situation is not a crisis in acute care we ask our governments to define what they believe a crisis to be."

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They thanked healthcare staff in the NHS "for their incredible work in recent weeks", adding: "[We] offer both of our organisations full support to all governments of the United Kingdom to discuss urgently what steps can be taken to improve matters for our patients."

It comes as Dr John Paul Loughrey, vice president for Scotland of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), warned that patients were being kept in "inhumane" conditions due to high levels of bed occupancy. 

He said the QEUH was not the only hospital in Scotland where staff were calling for a major incident to be declared, adding: "We really need urgent intervention across the whole system in order to protect the patients from the harm that's befalling them just now."

READ MORE: NHS preparing for 'significant excess deaths' this winter 

The RCEM estimates that between 300 and 500 patients a week across the UK are dying unnecessarily due to A&E delays. This is based on research carried out prior to the pandemic which found that patients requiring admission to hospital who spent over five hours in A&E departments were at a steadily increased risk of death during the subsequent 30 days. 

The latest A&E performance figures for Scotland show that just 55 per cent of patients were seen, treated and subsequently admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours compared to the Government target of 95%. 

This was the lowest level of compliance yet recorded, and compared to 62.4% in the week prior. 

A total of 1,821 patients had spent more than 12 hours in Scotland's emergency departments.

On Monday, the Scottish Conservatives said MSPs should be recalled to urgently discuss the situation in the NHS.
Tory health spokesman Sandesh Gulhane said the "unprecedented crisis" within the health service is "by far the worst" he has seen during his career.

Dr Gulhane, who has been working as a GP over the festive break, said: "It's no exaggeration to say Scotland's NHS is on life support at the moment - and an emergency response is needed from Nicola Sturgeon."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: "We know that this is one of the toughest winters in the NHS's 74-year history.

"We are monitoring the situation in emergency departments extremely closely and are in daily contact with health boards to ensure all possible actions to support services are being explored.

"Covid has still not gone away and these pressures, combined with pandemic backlogs, are making it a very challenging time for the NHS.

"We have been dealing with one of the coldest periods for many years which put an increasing strain on the NHS.

"On top of that, flu has been classified at extraordinary levels, with cases admitted to hospital the highest in five years.

"We also had to deal with rising cases of Strep A and other respiratory viruses which has resulted in significant demand on services.

"Delayed discharge continues to have a major impact in driving up accident and emergency waits, and we are working with health boards to ensure people leave hospital without delay, freeing up vital beds for those who need them most."